Healing Words

Jimbo saw a very pleasant Indian man today at the clinic. He was a retiree and is under followup for hypertension and diabetes.

Jimbo had a very pleasant conversation with him, took his BP, went through his lab results with him and finally, wrote him a prescription before bidding him farewell and Happy Deepavali.

They shook hands and he left.

Ten minutes later, he reappeared at Jimbo’s consultation room, requesting to see the nurse-in-charge. Apparently he was confused with the forms and card given to him and he did not know when to come for his next blood tests and consultation. Jimbo and a fellow colleague quickly sorted out the problem for him.

Just before the patient left the clinic, he turned to Jimbo and said:

“You know, things have changed so much in this hospital. Things have improved so much.”

Jimbo jokingly said, “Ya, everything is better except the doctors!”

To which he replied:

“No, no, now the doctors are also so much better. I used to accompany my mum to this hospital when I was young and those days, the doctors even hit the patients!!! Now it is so much better.”

“You know, when the doctor takes the time and is nice to me, half my illness is taken away already!”. He gave Jimbo a smile and left the room.

Jimbo’s got a lot on his mind lately, which include:

1. Organizing a major HIV Update event next month.
2. Trying to finish up some paperwork.
3. He has to prepare at least 2-3 power point presentations for the event in No. 1.
4. His superiors are chasing him to work on research projects.
5. Two major health campaigns over the next 2 months in 2 different states.
6. The academic department is chasing him over one missing exam question which unfortunately got corrupted in Jimbo’s thumb drive and the author of the question is overseas.
7. A planned trip to hike Gunung Datuk next week which most likely will fizzle out as more and more people pull out due to one reason or another.
8. Students demanding his time for either research or bed side teaching.
9. Children sick at home.
10. Research papers to write but Jimbo don’t seem to have the time.
11. Research data to key in but no time.
12. Research proposals to write but no time…
13. A general sense of fatigue and jadedness.
14. And Jimbo’s on call today.

But the words from that gentle Indian man did to Jimbo what he claimed nice doctors do to him:

It took half of Jimbo’s stress away.

Wed, 221008 @ 1851

To Nottingham and back!

Jimbo went to Nottingham yesterday. He got there and back in one day!

No, he was not in a supersonic plane nor could he transport himself through time like Hiro Nakamura (Jimbo has just finished watching the 2nd season of Heroes and is totally hooked on the series again!)

Jimbo actually went to the Nottingham University in Semenyih, Kajang, Malaysia.

The Nottingham University Campus in Semenyih ~ it’s a very beautiful campus!

What Jimbo did there was to deliver a lecture on HIV/AIDS in conjunction with their first awareness program on the ‘Birds and the Bees’.

Jimbo had a good time interacting with the students there who were from various countries in the world. Some were quite bold during the Q&A time. Among the questions asked were:

1. How was HIV transmitted from monkeys to human at the turn of the 20th century?

2. Can a man take the HPV vaccine?

3. What is the risk of contracting HIV amongst those who practice S&M stuff? (there were students there who did not know what S&M was but obviously there were those who knew!)

4. What do you mean by ‘insertive’ and ‘receptive’ sex?

It was a meaningful and fun time. Jimbo thinks all campuses should have a program like this one.

Wed, 221008 @ 0700; on call today.

PS: Jimbo apologises to anyone who might have been misled to think that he actually flew all the way to UK to the Nottingham University there! (Though he wished it was so!)